Friday, January 18, 2019

One of my worries when I was writing Resisting Gossipwas that some unscrupulous church leaders would misuse it to silence dissent among their followers. I could foresee insecure and/or controlling pastors piously holding the book up to their people and subtly saying, "See! You shouldn't criticize or disagree with me. I'll decide what gets talked about around here and when. We're going to be a gossip-free church."

Pastors and other church leaders are often the target of a whispering campaign. But not all dissent is unloving or unhealthily pursued. In churches where the leaders seem to be hiding key things or putting a "spin" on all of the information that gets disseminated, it's often difficult for the rest of the church to discern what is going on. Followers should ask their questions openly with respect, care, and love, trusting their leaders as much as they possibly can, but leaders should also bend over backwards to extend grace to those who disagree with them or are concerned about questionable decisions and internal conflicts. If both groups are careful and loving, then the heaviest situations can be successfully navigated. But just because one side is handling things poorly doesn't give the other side a reason to take the lower road.

That's why, in the bonus chapter for church leaders, I included two points about protecting reputations of leaders both within and outside of the local church but also had a point about airing concerns:

8. Open Channels for Airing Concerns

The flip side to the last two points is that leaders must create and sustain open channels of communication in the church for those who have concerns. Sometimes when there is gossip within a church, it is actually the leaders’ fault. Those who are gossiping should not be doing it, but gossip flourishes when there is an oppressive regime and a tyrannical atmosphere of silence.

When was the last time you asked for constructive feedback? Paul told Timothy, “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful” (2 Tim. 2:24). That does not mean that a good church leader will agree with all the criticisms he receives or will budge on orthodoxy, but he will humble himself to solicit critique.

Being approachable is easier said than done. I know I have failed to listen more than I have succeeded, but I often quote Proverbs 27:6 to my people: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Hurt me, friend, if I need it. That is love. (Resisting Gossip, pg. 168).

I have no way of telling if my worries have come true and if unhealthy pastors are using my book to shield themselves from accountability. I hope not, but I'm not naive enough to believe it will never happen.

I certainly didn't write it to insulate bad leaders. I wrote it to combat the real sin of gossip which can tear a church from limb to limb. I wrote it in the way I did hoping that unhealthy church leaders would not have another tool in their toolbox for mis-shepherding the flock under their care. May the Chief Shepherd protect His people from both errors and dangers (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Jesus keeps telling His disciples to “Good for you when...” and then follows it with things you’d never think to congratulate somebody about!

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...”
“Blessed are those who mourn...”
“Blessed are the meek...”

Do you remember the last one?

It’s in Matthew 5:11&12.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Congratulations, if that is you because you are flourishing and you will flourish!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to hear this one.

It doesn’t sound like fun, that’s for sure.

And yet, it does sound good, at least by the end, right?

If Jesus says something is a blessing, then it is, right?

Even if doesn’t seem like it at first.

Even if it’s hard.

Well, today, we have two hard stories, but I think that under and through them both, the last beatitude flows.

The headline of the newspaper says, “Local Boy Makes Good!”

Everybody in Galilee is talking about Jesus. Everybody’s excited because they know this guy. For a couple of decades, he made tools and furniture as an apprentice in Joseph’s carpenter business.

And now Jesus has come back to Nazareth, his hometown, and he’s shown up at the synagogue to teach His popular message.

And Matthew says that the local people were amazed.

But that it wasn’t a good kind of amazement. V.53 again.

“When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. [Listen to their questions. Are these questions about the kingdom of God?] ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. [He isn’t like we remembered him.] ‘Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’”

No, those are not questions about the kingdom.

They are questions about Jesus.

They are the kind of questions the Gospel of Matthew exists to answer.

Who is Jesus?

Matthew is a theological biography of Jesus Christ.

It reveals to us the identity of our Lord.

But these folks could not see it.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

They didn’t buy it that Jesus was Who we believe He is.

Notice that they didn’t think he could be doing these miracles because they had never seen them before.

I think that’s interesting because there are some false gospels from the second and third centuries that say for example that Jesus was doing miracles when He was a little kid. I don’t think so. Not only do those Gnostic gospels not sound like the original gospels but they don’t match the picture we get here.

His hometown community did not think that Jesus was anybody special.

And after hearing Him teaching, they were sure of it.

They rejected Jesus.

That’s what this story is saying. Verse 57.

“And they took offense at him. [They were scandalized by Him. They rejected Who He was communicating that He was.] But Jesus said to them, ‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.’”

You know, I’ve always thought that Jesus was just kind of smiling and shaking head when He said that.

But this was serious. This isn’t just a joke that people back home never really appreciate it when their favorite son comes back and all they can see when they look at you is little old so-and-so that they used to know when you were little.

This is serious. These people basically decided that Jesus was a false prophet and a false teacher, and they rejected Him.

At some point, maybe right after this, they decided that He was truly trouble and they were going to push him of the side of cliff!

They did not have faith, and it was serious. See the upshot in verse 58?

“And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

Because they did not believe.
Because they rejected Him.

He wasn’t going to do miracles because they weren’t interested any longer!

What’s going on is that things are progressing towards the Cross.

We all know where this story is going.

I only have two points this morning, and they’re as much from the Last Beatitude as they are from this passage.

#1. EXPECT TO BE REJECTED.

Jesus was.

And Jesus told us that we should not expect better treatment than He got.

In the Last Beatitude, He said, “Blessed are you when (not IF) people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

Expect that that’s going to happen.

The Apostle Paul said that, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...”

So if we aren’t receiving persecution for living a godly life, maybe we are doing it wrong!

Expect some rejection.

Even from family and friends.

Maybe, especially from family and friends.

These people knew Jesus. He grew up right there.

And they said, “No, I don’t think so.” Even though they had seen some miracles!

Miracles don’t convince people who don’t want to be convinced!

Do you want to live as a follower of Jesus Christ but your family and friends think you’re taking it a little too far?

“You don’t have to be a Jesus Freak!”

“You don’t have quit that!”

“You don’t have get that involved!”

“You don’t have to change that way, do you? Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

I know that we don’t currently experience extreme persecution in the United States right now.
And I’m thankful for that. There are a lot of reasons for it in the providence of God.

We aren’t supposed to go looking for persecution in the hopes of finding it.

We aren’t supposed to be masochists.

We can pray against persecution and hope that it doesn’t come.

But we should also expect it.

If you follow Jesus, it will get hard at times. It just will.

And at some times, it will get really really hard.

Don’t be surprised.

I think that we are so used to comfortability (I know I am) that we think that if persecution comes, then something has gone wrong with the plan. That God made some mistake.

Joel Michaels has been teaching the Wednesday Prayer Meeting from 1 Peter. Peter says in chapter 4, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ...”

You are living the Last Beatitude!

It’s how they treated the prophets who were before you.

And how they are treated your own Lord.

I know that that story was about Jesus, and of course, He was rejected. But do His followers really need to prepare for that?

Chapter 14, verse 1.

“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’”

Now this can be little confusing so follow along with me here.

This is not Herod the Great who tried to kill baby Jesus after the wise men came.

This is one of Herod’s sons, Herod Antipas who is a “tetrarch,” which is like a governor of a quarter of a territory.

He hears about Jesus. It would be hard not to.

And he gets scared that Jesus is John the Baptist back from the dead.

Which is weird because we didn’t know yet that John had died.

So verses 3 through 12 are a flashback to inform us in how John the Baptist died.

But before we look at that, notice again what the big deal is.

The big deal is, “Who is Jesus?”

Keep your eye on the ball.

That’s the ball in this book.

Who is Jesus?

Herod Antipas superstitiously thinks that Jesus may be John the Baptist come back to haunt him.

Because, sadly, he had had John killed. V.3

“Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for John had been saying to him: ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’”

Now, that takes some explaining, too.

And it’s quite the soap opera!

You see Herod Antipas had been married a first time to a princess of the Nabatean kingdom.

But he didn’t like her.

He liked his niece, a woman named Herodias, who was married to his brother, Philip.

So Herod divorced his wife for no biblical reason.

And Herodious divorced Philip for no biblical reason.

And then they got together.

And John said that this was wrong.

And John kept saying it. “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

That is wrong. Leviticus chapter 18 and chapter 20 says so.

This was adultery. This was breaking the seventh commandment.

John was speaking truth to power.

John the Baptist was being John the Baptist.

“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.”

And he didn’t change his tune.

Even when he was thrown into prison. V.5

“Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.”

You know why?

Because he was one.

I think it’s really important to see that John does not back down.

He doesn’t bow to political pressure.

He doesn’t just say what Herod and Herodias want to hear.

John could have probably changed his tune and gotten out of there.

If you are careful around powerful people, you can get a lot of favor.

But John was a herald of the kingdom, and he didn’t stop.

He expected to be rejected!

And he even chose it.

He didn’t back down.

Do you need to see that today?

Do you need to be emboldened to speak the truth no matter what the consequences?

Not to become offensive by your manner or because of you opinions.

But to speak out for righteousness.
To speak out for truth.
To speak out for the coming kingdom. It’s near!
To speak out for Jesus.

Is there somebody you need to rebuke?

I hate rebuking someone.

Ugh! It’s not so bad when I can do it from up here and be generic.

But when I need to get into someone I love’s face and call them to repent.

Oh man, I don’t like to do that.

Because I don’t want to be rejected in return.

I don’t want them to put their fingers in their ears like Herod did here.

Like Herodias did, too.

They did not want to hear this.

They had ignored their consciences, and they did not want John to reawaken them.

Turn that around for a second.

Perhaps you are being like Herod and Herodias right now.

You know what is right and what is wrong, but you have chosen the wrong, and you don’t care. And you don’t want to hear about it.

Don’t go there.

Don’t stay there.

Don’t choose that.

It is not safe or good to go against your conscience.

Don’t make up stories about how everybody’s doing it.

Or how science has shown that it’s okay.

Or how you only do it a little.

Don’t make excuses and don’t run from your conscience.

“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Herod was a very weak man.

He wouldn’t kill John (not because he didn’t want to) but because he was scared to.

But then he was given an opportunity. On his birthday. V.6

“On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias [by her previous marriage] danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.”

What kind of dance was that?

I’m trying not to imagine.

This was Herod’s niece by marriage and great-niece by blood.

And she was doing what was probably an erotic dance on his birthday, and he was loaded and had no self-control and promised to give this girl whatever she asked.

So she asked Mommy. And Mommy said, “Let’s kill John.” v.8

“Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ The king was distressed [and should have repented of his oath], but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.”

This really happened.

It’s gruesome and ghoulish.

And wrong.

Herod was ruled by his lust and pride and fear.

He looked like the most powerful person in the room, but he was really the weakest.

Don’t allow yourself to be ruled by your lust and pride and fear and hate.

And he had John killed and the party screeched to a halt as they brought his severed head in on a platter.

And then the band started back up, and the party went on.

And, friends, this is what happens right now while we wait for the kingdom to come in all of its fullness.

Expect to be rejected.

Choose to be rejected! Even if it means going against your friends and family and community.

And especially if it means choosing the kingdom of God over the kingdoms of this world.

Speak out for truth.
Speak out for the coming kingdom. It’s near!
Speak out for Jesus. He’s the king.

But don’t expect everybody to like it.

Expect at least at times to be rejected.

That’s how they treated the prophets who were before you.

Now, this is the end of our story for today.

And it’s a sad place to end. It ends with a burial. V.12

“John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.”

And it’s going to make Jesus very sad, as well.

But it’s not the end of John the Baptist story.

Not the very end.

Is it?

No, they had done their worst, and it was only a beheading.

Remember what Jesus told the disciples before their missions trip?

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

That’s what John did.

John had the fear of the Lord.

So he didn’t have the fear of Herod.

That’s why he could be so bold.

And he knew the promise of God.

He knew the flipside of the Last Beatitude.

#2. EXPECT TO BE REWARDED.

Listen again to the Last Beatitude:

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven...”

We tend to think that the worst thing that could ever happen to us is that we would be beheaded.

But the worst thing would be if we weren’t beheaded because we had denied King Jesus!

One day, John the Baptist will rise again.

Herod was right about that though he was wrong to think that who Jesus was.

But one day John the Baptist will have a whole new body in a whole new world.

Right now, he enjoys living in the presence of God.

“Great is his reward in heaven” because He was faithful!

And great will be his reward in the new heavens and new earth.

We can’t wrap our minds around that, but we should try.

And we should live for that day right now.

You know, all of this prefigures, both the Cross and the Resurrection.

Jesus was rejected, not just by His hometown, but by everyone who should have received Him.

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

He died and then He rose again.

He was rejected, and then He was restored.

And, amazingly, we get the reward!

Jesus lived the Last Beatitude perfectly, and it has made all of the difference.

Friday, January 11, 2019

Contrary to what some people believe, not all blacksmiths are bladesmiths. Blacksmithing is a wider category than bladesmithing, encompassing architectural and artistic work, bladesmithing and toolmaking, and a couple other categories. In fact some of the best blacksmiths in the world have never made a knife in their lives.
Bladesmithing is the art and craft of making blades, specifically, using heated metal to shape bladed objects. Despite this, making a blade usually requires a large amount of grinding. Establishing bevels, cutting in profiles, and shaping handles are often done on the grinder. There are many types of blades that the bladesmith can forge. Beyond just knives there are axes, chisels, swords, and many other tools and weapons to be made. Bladesmithing is versatile and has many purposes but is still only one subset of the expansive craft of blacksmithing.

Blacksmithing is the art and craft of shaping hot steel. Most forging is done with a hammer and anvil, beating the steel into the desired shape. Rivets, tongs, firepokers, gates, and all the blades mentioned before are made by blacksmiths. Blacksmithing tends to be more focused on the heat-and-beat aspect of metal work rather than all the grinding that goes into bladesmithing, but it’s not uncommon for blacksmiths to expand their knowledge to cover many crafts. The category of blacksmithing contains bladesmithing but is not limited to it.

The confusion among the layfolk is understandable. There are similarities. Both, for example, are metalwork. Blades are forged using techniques of blacksmithing, hot steel and hammers. Many blacksmiths are also bladesmiths and all bladesmiths are blacksmiths. If that’s confusing enough. Alec Steele, the premier blacksmith on YouTube, is known for forging everything from shelf brackets to claymores. Confusing the craft(s?) is easy. And some aspects of them are actually the same thing, and therefore can correctly be lumped under that same label.

Not all blacksmiths are bladesmiths. It may be accurate to say that someone is blacksmithing when they are making a blade, but please don’t assume that all blacksmiths also makes knives. It won’t hurt anyone to use the wrong word, but maintaining correct terminology can be important if you want to avoid ridicule and not annoy the blacksmith.

It’s been a few weeks since we were in Matthew 13 together. We were in Matthew last week for the baptisms, but we jumped to the end of the book. The week before that was Christmas Sunday. So it has been a couple of weeks since were in Matthew 13 together.

You can sum up Matthew 13 with four words: “Parable. Of. The. Kingdom.”

Matthew crams 7 or 8 of Jesus’ parables into one chapter. The third major block of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. At this point in His ministry, Jesus almost exclusively using parables–enigmatic stories, riddles, short allegories to teach about Jesus’ favorite subject.

You could say that it was His identity. Because that pops up again and again.

But I think that Jesus would answer that question with these four words:

The. Kingdom. Of. Heaven.

The Kingdom of God was Jesus’ favorite subject to teach on.

Remember how He began His ministry?

“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.”

And remember the Sermon the Mount?

That was a like a Kingdom Manifesto!

He described how He wants us to live as citizens of the upside-down, inside-out Kingdom of Heaven.

And He taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father, “Your kingdom come!”

And the prayer group on Wednesday night just went back over what we are to seek first, above everything else that we might be tempted to run after. What was it?

“Seek first _____________” The kingdom!

Jesus loved to talk about the kingdom of heaven.

And in chapter 13, He has been using parables to do it.

Jesus told His disciples that He was using parables so much because parables were the perfect kind of stories to both reveal His kingdom to those who trust and follow Him and to conceal His kingdom from those who do not want it.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The question is do we live our lives as if the kingdom was our all-surpassing treasure?

Do we live as if the King of this kingdom, King Jesus, was the most important Person in our lives?

This is the first Sunday of 2019.

What needs to change in your life and mine in 2019 to show the world that the kingdom of heaven is our greatest treasure?

That we have found it?

We get it!

We’ve found it!

We have found Jesus and His kingdom, and our lives show it.

Because there is flipside to this truth, and Jesus gives it as a warning in the next parable. V.47

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Let’s put it this way. If you find the kingdom, you have found everything, but:

#2. IF YOU MISS THE KINGDOM, YOU HAVE LOST EVERYTHING.

This parable is a lot like the one about the wheat and weeds, isn’t it?

It’s just fishing not farming.

And it’s focused on the of the story which is the end of history when the kingdom comes.

They are the ones who are trusting in Jesus and cherishing Jesus and treasuring Jesu and His kingdom.

And the wicked couldn’t care less.

They are the ones who have rejected the kingdom, overlooked the kingdom, didn’t “get” the kingdom, didn’t want the kingdom and didn’t live out the values of the kingdom.

They lived what seemed right-side-up to them and from the outside only.

And Jesus says that they will go into a fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If you miss the kingdom, you have lost everything.

Don’t miss it.

Turn from your sins and trust in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for sinners like you and me.

The kingdom is given to those who know they are not worthy of it, but still want it.

And trust in the King and His sacrifice to give it to them.

Remember, the kingdom may be hidden now, but it is find-able.

And one day, it will be all that there is.

And those who have not joined the kingdom now will not be a part of it then.

One more.

Jesus asks them a question. V.51

“‘Have you understood all these things?’ Jesus asked. ‘Yes,’ they replied. [And I think they are probably overestimating how much they truly understand. But they are beginning to get it, too, I think. [Okay. Jesus says. V.52] He said to them, ‘Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.’”

Last parable. Here’s the point:

#3. IF YOU KNOW THE KINGDOM, YOU SHOULD SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE.

Jesus says, “It’s great that you’ve got it. The mysteries of the kingdom are opening to you, but you’re not supposed to keep them to yourself.”

If you know the kingdom, you should share it with everyone who needs to hear about it.

“[E]very teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven [that’s you know. You’ve been told about the kingdom...] is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.’”

“Let me show you what I got in here!”

I’ve got some great old stuff.

I think that’s the Old Testament.

All of the promises in it are true and coming true.

All of what the Old Testament taught about the kingdom will be fulfilled.

“But that’s not all I’ve got in here. Let me show you this treasure.”

You see that word “treasure?”

“I’ve got some new stuff here. Parables. Parables that say that the kingdom may not come like you would have expected by reading your Old Testament.

It’s all that. But it’s also hidden. Miss-able. Quiet. Like a seed. Like yeast. Like treasure buried in a field. Like a pearl among a bunch of other pearls.

It’s like that, too.

But let me tell you about it so you see it, too.

Let me tell you about it so you find it, too.

Let me tell you about this treasure so you treasure it, too.”

Friends, in 2019, let’s tell the world about the kingdom of heaven.

Let’s not keep this to ourselves.

It’s too good to keep to ourselves!

Let’s pull out the old and the new and tell people about the treasure of the kingdom.

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About Me

I'm the happy husband of Heather (a Proverbs 31 mega-woman!), the glad father of the Fab Four (Robin, Andrew, Peter, and Isaac), the joyful pastor of Lanse Evangelical Free Church, a district leader in the awesome Allegheny District of the EFCA, book review coordinator of EFCA Today, and the author of a book on Resisting Gossip (CLC Publications, September 2013).

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Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed on Hot Orthodoxy are my own and not that of Lanse Free Church or anyone else. I am accountable to the elders and congregation of LEFC, but they don't necessarily agree with every single thing I think (and that's a healthy thing). I always say, "I have a million opinions, and they are free to the public!"

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Many of the books reviewed on Hot Orthodoxy have been given to me by publishers and authors. I've never been asked to produce a favorable review in exchange for the book, and if they did, I wouldn't publish a review.